Select a new theme:
Golf League Tracker Default
U.S.A.
Camo
Charcoal
Dark/Nighttime
Desert Sand
Fire and Ice
Monochrome
Ocean
Pink Pastels
SaveCancel
The putting board is a putting training device which allows you to practice 3-4 foot putts on a slight incline, which is perfectly straight. A smaller hole will let you focus on a smaller target, making it easier to make these short putts when it counts, on the course!
Here are the tools I used, but if you don't have a lot of these power tools, I'm sure hand tools can be used
The putting board allows you to practice putting 3 foot putts on a perfectly level (from left to right) surface. It has a slight incline to encourage the player to get the ball to the hole with some speed. This version has a smaller than normal hole. The hole can certainly be made to whatever size you like, but I made mine so that it’s 3” in diameter (as opposed to a 4¼” regulation golf hole).
Cut a piece of ½” thick MDF to 7 ½” x 48” in size. This is your main putting surface to which the carpet will be glued.
I cut a 3” hole to practice with, but you can make yours any size. 3” seems to be a good compromise from a full size hole to one that is very difficult to make a shot on.
There are a variety of ways to cut a 3” hole. The easiest would be to purchase 3” hole saw, but for a one time deal, it’s a little pricy (probably $20-$30 for a cheap one). So I used my router and router table with a ¼” straight cutting bit. You can also take a look on YouTube for different methods of cutting nice round holes.
Find the center of the hole on the main putting surface. Mark a spot about 6 ½” from one end of the board on the centerline. If you’re using a hole saw, go ahead and cut it out. For the router, mark a spot on your router table 1 ½” from the opposite side of the straight cutting bit. Take a penny nail and find a drill bit of the same size, and drill a hole in your table and in the center spot on the putting surface. Don’t go all the way through the putting surface; otherwise the nail may just go right through it.
This nail is a pivot point for your circle. Move your ¼” straight cutting router bit so it’s just below the surface of the table. Place your board on the nail, and stick the nail into the hole in the table. You should be able to swing the board in a complete circle. Start your router and raise the bit so it enters the work piece. Keep raising the piece until it goes through the piece, and slowly rotate it around until it almost cuts a complete circle. Stop just short and turn off your router.
You can probably break off the inner circle at this point, and clean up the rest with a file and some sandpaper.
The legs raise the hole end of the board about 3” off the ground. Cut out 2 legs out of ¾” plywood or MDF. Each leg is 3” wide. The top of the leg is angled 5°, with the shorter side being 2 ¾” high. Drill two countersunk holes into the main board, and glue and screw the legs to the main board. Make sure the countersinks are low enough so the screw heads don’t stick above the surface.
Once the legs are dry, drill a hole in the center bottom of each one and stick in the adjustable legs.
You’ll use some 3M spray adhesive to stick the carpet to the main board. Rough cut the carpet so it overhangs the board by maybe ½” all the away around. Spray the adhesive on both the back of the carpet and the board, and allow to dry. Once dry, I like to give each surface another very light spray. Stick the carpet down, and using a J Roller or a rolling pin, roll the carpet down to make sure it’s well adhered. You can place the board so that it lies flat on a table, with the legs hanging over the edge to give yourself some leverage.
Let it dry for a half hour or so, then trim the carpet to the size of the MDF. Take some time to cut out the hole in the carpeting. Use a new blade for best results.
The aluminum channel is used to give some rigidity to the length of the board. You could use a variety of materials, but this stuff is pretty cheap and super light.
Cut the channel to the proper length. You’ll now need to remove ½” of carpeting from each long edge of the board. I set up my table saw blade so that it just penetrated the carpet backing and then peeled the strip of carpet off. You could also set up a straight edge and use a razor blade to make the cut.
Once you have cleaned up the edges, tap on the channel on each side. Drill 3 countersunk holes into the edge of each channel even spaced and screw it in. That’s all that’s needed to hole it in place.
You can skip this if you want, but it’s handy to have the ball kick out to the side when you make the putt. It’s made of 2 pieces of ½” MDF for the sides, and ¼” hardboard for the bottom. Cut the pieces to size and glue on the bottom. Once dry, glue the ball return under the hole. I added two extra gluing strips to the bottom to insure it won’t come off.
I bought a $3 bubble level from home depot and trimmed all the extra plastic away from it. Cut out a notch in the carpeting at the end of the board at the hole and glue the bubble in.
Pretty simple. Just put the board down and turn the feet until the board is level. Putt away!
